


Overworked

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22365097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex gets sick by overworking himself in the studio.
Kudos: 7





	Overworked

“Alex, are you sure that you don’t want to go home like the rest of us? We have so much time to write this album,” Rian asked. All Time Low were currently working on their next album and were in the writing stage. There was no pressure to get it done at a certain time, but Alex had been treating it like there was.   
He’d written like that for many of their other albums, and he now thought that he did his best work when he’d stay up super late to work. He knew he was a bit of a workaholic, but he was totally okay with that.  
“Yeah, I’m sure, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Alex replied.  
“If you’re sure,” Jack tried.  
“I am. I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Alex said. Realizing there was no point in arguing, his bandmates left him in the studio. They’d been working since two that afternoon, and it was now ten thirty at night.   
He figured that he’d stay for one more hour, then head home. He continued writing his song, strumming on his guitar and trying to come up with the best lyrics he could.   
Eventually, he did finish the song, which he was very happy about. When he looked at the clock, he realized that it was almost two in the morning. He knew it was late, but he didn’t regret it, he’d gotten a good song out of it. He packed up his things, and went home so he could sleep, and do it all over again the next day.  
\------------------  
On their seventh studio day, Alex woke up feeling a bit worse for wear. He had a killer headache, his throat hurt quite a bit, and he felt achy and feverish. At first, he wondered how he got sick all of a sudden, but then he figured it out. This happened most record cycles, he’d work really hard on an album and not take care of himself, which would result in him getting sick.   
He didn’t want to waste time by taking the day off, so he deiced to get up and get ready so he could go in and push through it. After taking a fast shower, he took some medicine that would hopefully help him feel better. Deciding that he didn’t want to drive with his headache, he got an Uber to take him to the studio.   
“Hey, traffic isn’t bad, I should be able to get there in under ten minutes,” the driver said, starting to drive off.  
“Sounds good, thanks,” Alex said, his voice a bit hoarse.   
Great, now I can’t hide it from the others, Alex thought to himself. Once he got to the studio, he thanked his driver, then grabbed is things and went to their room in the studio. The other three were already there, Jack was playing a riff on his guitar, and the other two were on their phones.  
“Hey Alex, listen to this riff that I came up with, I think it might be good with that song you were working on yesterday,” Jack exclaimed, starting to play what he came up with. Alex was actually impressed, he thought that Jack had done a good job with it.  
“So, what do you think?” Jack asked once he was done.  
“I like it, dude!” Alex replied, his voice hoarse.  
“Woah, are you okay, man?” Rian asked, putting his phone away.  
“Yeah, you sound a bit sick,” Zack added.  
“I’m fine,” Alex said, coughing a bit.  
“Really? You don’t sound fine,” Jack replied. He got up and put a hand to Alex’s forehead.  
“What’re you doing?” Alex asked.  
“Proving myself right, you feel warm,” Jack concluded.  
“Dude, I’m fine,” Alex insisted.  
“Alex, this happens every record cycle. You push yourself too hard, and you get sick,” Zack pointed out.  
“Have you been staying up late every night working ever since we started writing last week?” Rian asked, sounding concerned.  
“Yeah, I’ve had some late nights, but I’m okay. I want to get to work. We made some great progress yesterday, and Jack’s riff is awesome. Also, I worked on some stuff late last night that I want to show you guys,” Alex insisted.  
“Okay fine, but if you start to feel really bad, we can stop. Also, we can take a couple days off so you can rest and recover,” Jack suggested.  
“I’ll be fine, it just feels like allergies. Let’s get to work,” Alex stated. They all took seats around a coffee table in the middle of the room. Rian and Zack sat in chairs, and Jack and Alex shared a couch.  
“What’d you come up with, Alex?” Rian asked.  
“I started a new song. I had some ideas for lyrics and melodies while we were working, so after you guys left, I played around with them, and came up with this,” Alex explained. He handed Rian and Zack a lyric sheet to share as he began to play the melody and sang some of the lyrics he came up with.   
When he was just about done, he burst into a coughing fit. Jack was quick to pat Alex’s back until he was able to breathe again.  
“I’m guessing that part at the end wasn’t in your writing,” Zack said sarcastically.  
“Fuck off,” Alex replied, his voice sounding hoarser now.  
“Why don’t you not sing today?” Jack suggested.  
“No, I can do it, I swear,” Alex continued.  
“Hey, I came up with a cool drum part, why don’t I show it to you?” Rian suggested.  
“Good idea, Rian,” Jack replied. Rian got up and started to play his new riff. Even though Alex thought it sounded cool, he couldn’t help but cringe. The loud crashing from the drums was making his headache significantly worse. Rian saw Alex’s face and stopped playing.  
“Do you not like it?” Rian asked.  
“No, it’s great dude. The drums just made my head hurt a lot. I’m okay, I’m sorry to take away from what you were doing,” Alex said, blowing his nose.  
“Are you sure that you want to work today, dude? Rest might be the best thing for you right now,” Jack tried.  
“No, I’ll be okay, I promise,” Alex insisted, much to everyone’s concern.  
\----------------------------  
A little more than an hour had gone by, and Alex was feeling much worse than he had when he’d first gotten to the studio. His throat hurt more, his voice was much scratchier, his body hurt more, and he felt worn out and out of energy.   
The band figured he was slowly getting worse, but they didn’t say anything, they knew that arguing with Alex over this was pointless. Jack decided that if Alex got significantly worse, then he’d say something.   
They were just about finished with the song that they started the day before, they just had to play it all together to make sure all of the parts fit well together.  
“You guys ready?” Jack asked the band.  
“Let’s do it!” Zack exclaimed. As usual, Alex counted them off, and they started into the song. Once they got into the second verse, Alex could feel a coughing fit coming on. He did everything he could to try and suppress it, but ultimately ended up failing.   
He doubled over and had a long, painful coughing fit. The band stopped playing, and Jack went over to Alex and rubbed his back until the fit finally stopped.  
“That sounded like it hurt,” Jack said, sounding concerned.  
“It did,” Alex replied, grimacing and holding his throat.   
“Did it hurt you to talk?” Rian asked.  
“Like a bitch,” Alex replied, talking as quietly as possible.  
“Maybe we should call it a day, you need to rest, man,” Zack replied. Alex stayed quiet, upset with himself since he clearly couldn’t keep going.  
“I think that’s for the best, dude. Why don’t I go back with you and I can make sure that you’ll be okay? I’ll stay for a bit to keep you from being bored, and from being too hard on yourself,” Jack suggested.  
“That sounds great, Jack. I’m really sorry, guys,” Alex said, sounding as guilty as he felt.   
“There’s no need to apologize, man,” Zack replied.  
“Yeah, we all get sick. This just means that you need a couple days off. also, it means that when you’re better, you need to chill the fuck out,” Rian explained, making Alex laugh some.  
“Thanks, guys,” Alex replied. Rian and Zack wished him well, then Alex followed Jack out to his car. They got to Alex’s within minutes, due to almost no one being on the road.   
“Why don’t you change into PJs, and I’ll make you some honey and lemon tea, and we can hang out in the living room,” Jack suggested. Alex gave him a thumbs up before going into his room to change.   
Meanwhile, Jack got Alex some cough medicine and tea, then took it to the living room. Alex came back with a pillow and blanket, then set himself up on the couch.  
“Take this, then drink your tea,” Jack instructed.  
“Thanks, man,” Alex replied, doing as he was told.  
“Isn’t this familiar,” Jack said, laughing.  
“What?” Alex asked back.  
“You work too much, then you get sick from it, then I take care of you. This happens every album cycle, dude,” Jack explained.  
“I guess it does,” Alex said, realizing that Jack was right.  
“I seriously admire your passion and drive, and I love that you care more than many other people in the industry, but don’t work yourself too hard in the future. We all care about you and want you to figure out a healthy work balance. And, I hate to see you so miserable, especially when it can be prevented,” Jack explained.  
“I’ve never been good at that, you’re totally right. Sorry for being so stubborn and worrying you all. I just get addicted to the process, but I definitely need to work on not pushing myself too far. thank you for always being here for me, Jack, even if I am a bit of a dumbass in this way,” Alex said, making them laugh some. Alex’s laughter turned into a coughing fit, and Jack helped him sit up until he was okay again.  
“Why don’t we stop talking, you need to rest your voice. Do you want to watch something?” Jack offered.  
“Maybe a movie?” Alex suggested.  
“Sure thing, dude,” Jack said, picking out a movie for the two of them to watch. Alex spent the next two days stuck at home, and Jack took care of him for most of it.   
Once Alex was healthy again, they continued with their writing process. Alex was careful to not push himself too much, but his bandmates still looked after him as much as they could, always prioritizing Alex’s wellbeing, as he did for them, as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I wrote this back in September, and I'm glad to finally be sharing it! This is actually sort of similar to a request that I got yesterday, but it's not what I'm using to fulfill that request, I want to make the request exactly what the requester wanted, and I already had some ideas for it!! I have quite a few requests to work on right now, but if you have ideas, please go ahead and send them in, and I'll add them to the running list in my phone! I hope you guys liked this story, thank you for sticking around and reading my writing, I never thought I'd ever have this many stories up, and it's all because of you guys. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
